32 Reviews — Macnair^s Geology of the Grampians. 



of papers publislied elsewlicie. The chapter ou the physical con- 

 ditions under which the Old Ked Sandstone was laid down is taken 

 practically verbatim from papers published twelve years ago by 

 Mr. James lleid and the author in the Geological Magazine. AYe 

 must take exception to the reprinting, without emendation or 

 comment, of personal statements, which on their first publication 

 called forth a remonstrance, and then an explanation by the authors. 

 Throughout the book generally we can only regard his handling of 

 the opinions of well-known geologists as particularly unfortunate. 



As a description of the geology of a highly interesting district the 

 book meets a Avant. The author's enthusiasm is evident in his 

 writing, and throughout the greater portion of the book he easily 

 holds the reader's attention. "Whilst the style helps to arouse interest 

 in the theme, his descriptions suffer from a lack of clearness. They 

 are too detailed and too technical for the general reader, and too 

 inexact for the geological student. To give an instance, mica-schist 

 is described thus: — " Mineralogically, mica-schist consists of an 

 aggregation of quartz and mica arranged in alternating wavy laminte- 

 plancs of schistosity. Structurally, the quartz presents a granular 

 character, having been derived from the breaking up of the original 

 quartz grains in the clastic rock. The mica, which may either 

 be muscovite or biotite, is entirely authigenic, and takes the form 

 of plates, which are generally basal sections of the mineral" (p. 115). 

 Technical terms are occasionally introduced unnecessarily, and are 

 often left unexplained, although the opening chapter would lead us 

 to infer that the book is intended to appeal to the novice and the 

 general reader. There is also an occasional lack of consistency in 

 the statements of results. For example, the main mass of the 

 mountain chain, Avhose basal wreck is now represented by the High- 

 lands, is shifted about to suit requirements. In many references 

 (e.g. p. 161) he places "the backbone or core of the great geanticlinal 

 along the Ben Lawers ridge " in the Central Highlands. After 

 studying his * marginal fan ', he concludes (p. 182) that " by carefully 

 considering the fragments that are now left of this ancient chain, 

 it appears that the great central massive must have risen over what 

 is now the Midland Valley of Scotland". But when discussing the 

 conditions under which the Lower Old Ked Sandstone was deposited, 

 this position is inconvenient, and we read (p. 23, vol, ii) that "the 

 great mass of the mountain chain must have lain to the north-west 

 of the present Old Red Sandstone area ". 



The work is illustrated by over 150 photographic reproductions of 

 scenery, fossils, rock-specimens, and microscope sections, for which the 

 author is indebted to numerous friends. The views illustrating hill- 

 top scenery are amongst the finest we have seen. Many of them are 

 really beautiful pictures, and they have been carefully reproduced. 

 The photomicrographs are not all equally good, those illustrating the 

 schistose rocks in particular being fuzzy. They should have had 

 fuller descriptions attached, as it is impossible to recognize the 

 minerals at sight. There are in addition seven geological sketch-maps 

 printed in colours and other maps and sections. 



The first volume is devoted to the Highland rocks. The opening 



